Something Wicked
by Alan Spencer
Summary: Louise wants a powerful familiar, something to show people she is not a failure. But she gets more that she bargained for: a deep darkness hidden behind the deathligths.
1. Nexus

**I. Nexus**

Louise stood, feet parted, trying to block out the noise around her before carrying on with the ritual. This was important, her day, and she didn´t need her classmates making her more nervous that she already was. She had see their mocking stares and heard their even more mocking words, but that seemed distant, somehow. Now, she just had to this one little thing, make her willpower flow like all those books told her it was supposed to flow, and everything would be all right. Eleanor would smile at her, Mother would finally accept her and she wouldn´t worry Cattleya anymore. None of them needed such a burden, and she was tired of it, too. She had be tired for a long time. Louise breathed, and drew her wand for the pocket of her uniform. She hesitated for a moment, thinking of the chant she had prepared and the new ways they could find to put her down even further, then shook those thoughts out. It didn´t matter. It didn´t matter, at all.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this universe!" She said. For the corner of her eye, she saw Professor Colbert watching over, with an expression that seemed encouraging. Better to concentrate of that, that the constant mutterings of her classmates, that it was a strange chant and that the Zero would blow them all away today if they were not careful. Yes, even if it was nothing more that his duty as an instructor, better to concentrate on it that everything else. Cold comfort, maybe, but better that not comfort at all. "My divine, beautiful, and powerful familiar! I wish and assert from the bottom of my heart, answer my guidance!"

She felt it, the willpower leaving her body, and maybe it was nothing but a wild disillusion, but it flowed, flowed like it was supposed to, like a person so fundamentally broken as her should incapable of. Then, she staggered, and fell to her knees. The world started blurring right before her eyes, fading into a sweet, sweet high. She felt a hand on her shoulders, and the sound of her name, far away. Louise gasped, back arching in such a short and sharp move as the cracking of a gun. Her eyes glazed over and, suddenly, she was flying.

_A street, far and wide, nearly in darkness if not for strange objects. Streetlights, she thinks and the word escapes her mind as suddenly as it came. There are two boys there, trembling in the darkness, holding on to each other __besides a massive, fallen (knocked out) bicycle. One is a tall, red headed boy, face full of freckles. The other is shorter, skinnier, something (glasses) framing is face, hiding behind the taller boy. The leader, she thinks, without even knowing why. There is a smell there, in the darkness, a smell that is almost like an animal.__She heard scratching, and her mind draws a terrifying image of arms as big as herself ending in_ _sharp talons. An open mouth, with teeth as shar__as knifes, foam dripping from it. Eyes, wide and round, shining with an eerie light. It went away. Whatever it was, it went away. But it could never leave. Because that thing was this city. That was_

_(Derry)_

_everywhere, in this place._

_The scene__changed, went away and now there was only darkness, stretching even beyond the horizon. A void. There was that boy again, the red headed one but he had changed. Is expression was more appropriate for an animal that a human. And, something else, too. A Shape.__It. This, everything about this, made her heart churn painfully in her chest. An illusion, it had to be an illusion. Or..._

_"__This is no illusion you foolish little boy-this is eternity, my eternity and you are lost in it, lost forever, never to find your way back; you are eternal now, and condemned to wander in the black... after you meet me face to face (the deathligths, all the way into the deathligths) that is."_

_That Voice came from the void, it was the void and it settled down on her like a physical weight. This..._

_(he)_

_was too much, far too much. She didn´t care about what was happening, or why or about what she left behind. She just wanted this to stop._

_(thrusts)_

_But It couldn´t stop. She knew that, even thougth she didn´t knew what was It or where it came from. Because, It, most of all, desired suffering. It´s food was _

_(his fits against the posts)_

_pain. That made everything so much sweeter, full. Gave everything substance. So It couldn´t stop. The only way out, the only real way out, was _

_(and still insists he sees the ghosts)_

_death._

Louise gasped, and fell her lugs fill with air, feeling like she had be drowning and perhaps that was it. Drowning in a sea of darkness. What see had see there, in that (void) place, was hazy now, like a half forgotten dream but she didn´t think it was a dream. Not now, at least. The experience was far too recent for that. She saw professor Colbert´s worried face above her, and it took her a moment longer to realize that she was on the ground, and her wand was no longer on her hand. And, for the corner of her eye, she saw a cloud of dust. An explosion, one of her explosions. It had to be. But, for a moment, she thought that it was nothing but a sign of the imminet appearance of that thing (that had seen her) she had see, in that deep darkness.

"Miss Valliere, Miss Valliere, can you heard me?"

"Mister Colbert..." She said, drowsily."Yes. I..."

She stared as the dust slowly dissipated, revealing that, yes, there was something there. But it was not a magical creature, or even a beast, but a man. Is face was white, tufts of red air on each side of his bald head and big, red smile painted over his mouth. He had a tie, and bright white gloves. On his left hand held a bunch of balloons of all colors, that stirred gently in the light breeze. And she saw that he had no shadow. She froze in fear, but then the shadow was there, and she chastised herself. Nothing but a hallucination because of the heat, the stress, her sudden fit or all of them. It took her a moment to realize why he was there: she had summoned him. A mere commoner, and one that dressed like some kind of jester.

"No way..." She said, her voice failing her. She... she had desired anything at all, as long as she succeeded. But this... this was worse that failure. At least, simply failing allowed her to preserve some semblance of dignity, as Wardes eventual wife. With this, she wouldn´t be surprised if her mother decided to disown her.

Laughter bumbled thorough the crowd, after they came to the same realization as her, and the mocking started, both to her and him. He seemed like he didn´t even heard it-and it was a possibility, all right, the man didn´t have to know how to speak Tristanian. He took two big steps, and extended his arm towards something. When he pulled his arm back, he saw that he had grabbed her wand. Calmly, without that big and red smile leaving his face, he walked towards her. Louise stood up, shakily, ignoring the mutterings of the crowd. Image. She had an image to maintain. If she couldn´t be a noble, then a least she would fail with her head held high. The man reached her, and presented her the hand with her wand, and opened it. Louise took the wand.

"Who... Who are you?"

"I, Louise, am Mr Bob Gray." Her blood froze. He knew her name. He... no, wait. Don´t over react. He heard it from the crowd and nothing more. Calm down. "Also know as Pennywise, the Dancing Clown."

"Why?" She said, before she could stop herself, and then grimaced. It couldn´t be more obvious.

"Because I am a clown, and I dance. Well, sometimes. Anyway, Pennywise, meet Louise Valliere. Louise, meet Pennywise. And now, we know each other. Ah, the joys of a proper greeting. You should remember things like that, you know. Is not good to let your manners slacken."

Louise flushed, and when some idiot from the crowd echoed his agreement and laughter broke out once again, she flushed even harder.

"Are... are you mocking me?"

"No, why would I do that? Come on, lets make peace. Want a balloon? They float."

"No, thank you." Louise said, and clenched her fits, gathering what courage she had. This had to be done. "Could you.. Could you get closer? Please."

Pennywise bended at the waist, until he was close enough for her too kiss him. Which was precisely what she was going to do. Ah, how embarrassing. How embarrassing.

"My name is Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere." She declared, twirling her wand about according to the gestures of the books. "Pentagon of The Five Elemental Powers, bless this humble being and make him my familiar."

Then, she put her hands on his cheeks, and kissed him, right in the lips. Pennywise didn´t even react, like he had be expecting it. That was ridiculous, of course, but he should have at least stiffened or try to move away or something, not just stand completely motionless. She maintained the kiss longer that necessary, to make sure she did it right. When she pulled away, she stared at Pennywise, waiting from the branding of the runes.

"Well, that was sudden." Pennywise said. Even thought he said something like that, his expression didn´t change in the slightest. "Thought, well, everybody loves the clown."

Louise blushed, once again, but didn´t make another move. There. The hand of Pennywise was glowing red, and, even through the gloves, she saw the runes being slowly engraved. When the ligth died down, she allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief. That´s it. Whatever happened from now on, she at least at succeeded in this. Wait... she looked up at Pennywise, suddenly worrying that he had be hurt, but he was not grimacing or anything, just staring at his gloved right hand in amused curiosity. That was strange. Too strange. Even Tabitha's dragon had looked uncomfortable, when it had branded with the runes. Or, maybe, she had just missed Pennywise reaction, distracted as she was. Could be that, yes.

"Very well, Miss Valliere. You have managed both Summon Servant and Contract Servant in one try."

"Of course she did!" Someone shouted. "He is a strangely dressed and probably crazy jester, not a magical beast! Otherwise, she wouldn´t even have managed to summon anything, much less make the contract!"

Louise clenched her fits, but she showed no other reaction. It was to be expected. She was taunted, reviled, since she came here and this was almost _soft _compared to everything else, and, really, what else could be expected if not mocking, when she had summoned a clown? So there was no reason to cry. At all. She was strong.

"So, it is done?" Pennywise said, and she lifted her head. Colbert was besides h-h-her familiar´s side, with one of his white gloves in his hand, examining the runes. "Can we go now?"

"Eh, yes." Colbert responded. "You can go. Just follow Miss Valliere."

"Ooookay." He said, put the glove back on and approached her, still holding on to those balloons. Louise nodded, turned and walked away without saying anything, hoping that he could follow her and be spared of further embarrassment. He did. She ignored her classmates flying away, like she couldn´t never be able too, insulting her on their way and walked towards the academy, her familiar just right behind her.

* * *

><p>Louise closed the door behind them, locked it and took a step forward. She signed heavily, looked upwards and closed her eyes, trying to figth back tears. She had so looked forward to this day, the chance to prove herself and now everything was over. In the end, she was just Louise The Zero. She should have expected it.<p>

"What´s wrong?" Pennywise said. Or Bob; maybe she should call him Bob. Whatever.

"Nothing." She answered, somehow managing to make her voice not tremble and started undoing the buttons of her shirt, trying to ignore that there was another person in the room. He was just a familiar, so this was normal. Even thought she couldn´t even get a proper familiar, she at least had do this right. Wait... She turned around towards him, hands on her hips. Pennywise stared at her nonchalantly, his damn big smile still fixed on his face. It annoyed her, somewhat. She breathed in, trying to remind herself that this was normal, because he was her servant now and servants did this kind of thing. "Familiar, dress me."

"Okay." He simply said, and nodded.

"W-what..:" She said, flushed and backed away a step. Okay? Just okay? Should he not have at least some hesitation? He had be a clown before, not a servant; he shouldn´t take his sudden change of roles in stride. For a moment, she worried. They were alone, she was pretty much topless and she was not sure she could reach her wand in time, if he wanted to do... something unpleasant to her. No, no, she was getting all worked up over nothing. Besides that she should be happy he didn´t put up any resistance. He knew his place, knew it damn well and that was that. Nothing more.

"I said okay." He repeated, took a step forward and started undoing the remain buttons of her shirt. She fidgeted in place, but still let him do it without complaining. Such a thing wouldn´t be beffiting of a noble. When all the button were undone, he took off her coat, hanged it on the bed then off her shirt. The window was closed, but Louise still fell a chill that made her body tremble. Pennywise bend down, and unzipped her skirt, making it slid off her legs down to the floor. Then, he extended his hands to pull down her panties, and she almost jumped back.

"No, no, that´s fine." She didn´t like sleeping with her panties, it was really uncomfortable, but she liked the idea of being completely naked in front of him even less. Despite that she was practically naked so, really, such a thing didn´t really matter. "I-I have... My nightclothes are in the closet, familiar."

Pennywise merely nodded, like nothing had happen, went to the closet and opened it. He grabbed one of her nightgowns, and he helped her put it on. For the first time, she wished that she had brought a different one, one that was not semi-transparent. She coughed, got into the bed and carefully covered herself with the sheets, right up to her neck. She felt silly, outright stupid, but she still did it. She turned away, curled up and tried to sleep.

* * *

><p>When night felt, It went out the room, and closed the door behind It. Something new had happened, again. After all Its long and strange time, even after the Pain, something new. After that group of children had banished It once and, then, as adults managed to destroy Its physical form, It had be floating in the macroverse which was Its eyes, swimming in the deathligths, for a long time.<p>

And then... that girl.

Something new, after the Pain.

She had called up to It with a strange power that, for some reason, made It think of that detestable Other, that stupid old thing called The Turtle. That wouldn´t not be, of course, but It made It think of that creature, yes. At first, It had be furious. It was eternal, the Eater of Worlds. Everything flowed from It. And now, someone called to It. Strange power or not, someone had dared to try and call It. That... wouldn´t be allowed. So It let himself be dragged through the Dark Tower and into whatever world that was.

A little girl had summoned It.

It had be about to lose Its cool, and simple cast her into the deathligths, but thought better of that. In time, It would do that. It would let that insolent little girl met It face to face and know the weight of real power. But in time, when It had turned her world upside down and into Its personal hunting keen and not a second later. She deserved It.

When the girl had kissed It, the power that tried to alter It and bend It to her whims had shattered upon contact. It almost laughed. In the macroverse which was Its eyes, after being defeated for the first time in eternity, that girl´s meager power had seemed similar to the Other. Now, things were send straight. She was just an unlucky, stupid little girl, too weak to accept herself. It would felt the right shape to destroy her, twitching against Its skin. One word for that woman and she would die.

Her stupidity had only be confirmed when the girl demanded It to dress her.

It had accepted for a sole reason: playing with her mind was amusing. More so that normal, anyway. Her reactions were over the top, and there was a palpable fear in every one of her movements. She hadn´t stopped fidgeting when It had dressed her, nearly jumped when It went to take off her panties and covered herself up to her neck when she entered the bed. Oh, yes, it was amusing but there were far more important things for It to do now.

This was another world, another hunting keen.

So It went on the prowl.


	2. Drawing Cycles

**II. Drawing Cycles**

While they had be walking with their arms linked out of the school at night, Guiche felt real lucky, and when they settled down in the courtyard to have a picnic, and she beamed up at him where she was sitting in a way that made his heart beat faster, he knew he was lucky. Montmorency was beautiful, but Katie was special, too cute for words and she loved him deeply. That, more that anything, was what made him get close to her. He had an interest in Montmorency for white a while, and she was indeed beautiful, but she didn´t have any interest in him unless she was in control and always looked down on him. Katie sought his approval and love, not the other way around. Guiche sat down alongside her, and gave her his best smile. She blushed.

They laughed, shared the food and kissed under the light of the moons. She was hesitant, at first, but it didn´t take long for her to return the kiss with even greater passion. They were on the ground, him on the top of her, arms around her waist, already past beyond the point of caring just how far things would get, when he heard it. Footsteps. He broke out the kiss, and sat up on the ground, looking around the still darkness, thinking that it was Montmorency. It was not. There was a shape, close to them, but it was a tall shape and Montmorency was fairly petite.

"Who is that trip-trapping over my bridge?" Something croaked, that thing in the darkness. It was such a deep, malicious voice that he wanted to just get up and run, run as far as he could, even back to his house if that was what it took to get away from than thing, but is feet seemed stuck in the ground. He couldn´t move.

"Who are you?" Guiche almost screamed, trying to hold down on his panic. Whatever it was, he was a man and, most importantly, a Gramont. He would protect Katie, at any cost. So he stood up, and put himself in front of her.

Another step, and the figure stepped out of the shadows. It was that crazy jester, the one the Zero had summoned, not a girl who could tell Montmorency about this or some kind of beast. Just a jester. Guiche deflated, and only then he realized that his heart had speed up dangerously. He breathed in, and scowled at the commoner-shaky, but a scowl all the same.

"Go away, commoner. You are interrupting our date." He said, sneering at the jester, trying to imitate his father. The jester didn´t pause, didn´t even twitch. Guiche watched him approach with a vague sense of unease, watched that red painted smile that seemed to mock him. He was a commoner; he was supposed to obey. "Are you deaf, commoner?"

Nothing, again. Nothing. Guiche opened his mouth to say something else, but then the jester stepped into the light of the moons, and he saw that he didn´t cast no shadow. None at all. He gulped, and took a step back, but forced himself to think straight. It was an illusion, a mirage or maybe a particularly vivid hallucination because of the heat or maybe all of them. Had to be. Those kind of things didn´t exist. Even kids knew that!

And, suddenly, the jester was face to face with him, so close they could kiss. No way. There was just no way the jester could have come so far in ten seconds, at the most. He took a step back, despite himself.

"Do you want a balloon?" The jester asked, his smile somehow widening. "They float. They all float! Try one and see."

"Look, just go away, okay? And maybe, _maybe_, I will forget about this."

The jester extended his hand, and caressed his left cheek. Guiche froze in fear and outrage, and when he was about to scream at the commoner, there was a stab of pain in that cheek. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a feeble gasp, not a scream. It took him a moment to catch the blood between the jester´s nails, which were as long and sharp as knifes, spilling down them and into the floor. He stared. Just stared. Wake up. Wake up. This is the moment where everybody wakes up, when the monster gets them and everything can be left behind as just a terrible nightmare, so wake up. Why couldn´t he wake up?

"They float." That _thing, _It, croaked. "Everything down here floats. And soon, you will float, too. How, of will you float!"

Its face changed. He saw something horrible, something that shouldn´t be possible and it made his worst fears look like sweet dreams. He turned away for that vision, his voice raising into a clean sky. His face was turned by the hands of It towards Itself and Guiche de Gramont, son of General Gramont, disappeared into the deathligths. He had the time for one last, confused and unfinished thought-_I am..._-before he was assimilated.

It turned towards Katie, who, frozen, had be watching everything. Her whole body trembled, and she was pale, far too pale. Katie watched as It approached her, tears in her eyes and opened her mouth to beg, to say that she could do anything as long as that thing didn´t kill her. It lifted her chin with one hand, forcing her to look at Its eyes and she felt silent. For a moment, she stared at two depth pools of pure malice and fire, hideous fire, somewhere inside them. Then, she swam in the deathligths, not even having the time to scream. It let go her and she fell down against the grass, now nothing more that an empty husk. Its mouth opened, sharp teeth shining and It began to feed for the first time in this world.

* * *

><p>It was a large, confusing and dark mess. She didn´t know where she was or how she had got there, but she at least knew that. There was something in that darkness, crouched, something wicked from the fervent imaginings of a mad man. But that didn´t matter. That didn´t matter because they were five and it was not a mystical number but a good number, still. They were in a circle around her, and she could hear the sound of their voices. She tried to understand, but couldn´t do it. Their voices faded, moment by moment and...<p>

A face. A pale face with a big, painted smile as red as blood. She squeaked, sat up and crawled away on her hands, until her back meet the walk. That person just looked at her, like nothing had happened.

"Who... Who are you?"

"I am Mr Bob Gray, Louise. You summoned me yesterday." Ah, that´s right, wasn´t it? Some part of her had hoped that yesterday would banish like that strange dream, but it was all true. Sigh.

"Ah, yes, sorry, I am not good in the mornings." She said, and then blushed. God, why did she say that? He was just a lowly commoner, and a familiar at that! He should be glad she even remembered his name now. She hesitated, for a moment, remembering what happened yesterday. How casual he had been when she had asked him to dress her, and her embarrassment at everything. "I have spare uniforms in the close; grab them and dress me."

"Okay." He said, twirled around and went towards the closet. Louise got out of bed, and sluggishly took off her nightgown. The jester soon came back with one off her spare school uniforms, and dressed her. She was still uncomfortable, but she managed to kept still, like nothing special was happening. Just like she was supposed to. When he draped the cloak over her shoulders, his fingers lightly touched her neck. She shivered despite herself but shook that feeling off rather quickly. It was just nerves, and nothing more. There was nothing to fear for a jester of all things. She got out of the room, and he followed her. Everything was on his rightful place, once again. Even the insults and mocking looks she got through the hallways were oddly confronting.

Soon, they came into the Alvis Dinning Hall. Louise puffed out her chest, and poorly tried to look like her mother, when she was teaching her a lesson.

"Almost all mages are nobles. The saying nobles achieve nobility through the use of magic is the foundation of our education. Thus, the Alvis Dinning Hall is befitting of a noble´s status."

"Alvis?" Pennywise asked. Even so, there was no curiosity in his voice. That unnerved her, a little bit. He was just so expressionless...

"Those statues, all around. They come alive during the night and dance." She said. For some reason, she had felt the need to add that. Pennywise didn´t seem particularly impressed, though. He put a finger to his lips.

"Uh, maybe I join them tonight." He said, as serious as always. Louise opened her mouth, immediately closed it, pretend that she hadn´t heard that and sat down in the nearest empty chair. Before she could tell Pennywise about where his plate was, he settled down on the ground without a word. He didn´t seem to care at all, either. Ah, whatever. Better start the morning prayer. Louise clasped her hands, and closed her eyes.

"Students, attention, please." It was Osmond´s voice. Louise opened her eyes, and looked towards the desk of the teaching staff. Osmond was in the middle of the hall, using his staff like a cane, with Professor Colbert at his side. "We have bad news. Yesterday, Guiche De Gramont and Katie Underwood disappeared."

Frantic whispering erupted at the tables, but she didn´t even heard it. Disappeared? How could that be possible? This was the Tristain Academy of Magic, the finest academy in all of Halkegenia. Several of the teachers were Triangle Mages, and the Headmaster was a very experienced Square Class mage, respected even by her mother. They were supposed to be safe!

"But don´t worry. They have not be kidnapped. They left a letter, saying that they were going to run off together. "Osmond continued. Is voice was strong, the very incarnation of a kindly grandfather. Louise didn´t feel reassured, at all. She didn´t know why, but she didn´t think it was that simple. Maybe it was just that her general mood, but... but. "Still, that´s rather dangerous for their age so a search part will soon be organized. We promise you that your classmates will be back, sooner rather that later. You can go back to your breakfast."

And, after that, he sat down. Louise forced herself to look away from the staff table, and, quietly, the students recited the prayer. Then, she ate in silence. The students chatted around her, and even thought it was lower that before, they were acting almost normal. The words of Headmaster Osmond were enough to convince them, not without reason. But...

But.

* * *

><p>When breakfast finished, and Osmond was heading back to his office, Colbert cached up with him. He gave him a brief look, nodded and turned to Miss Longeville, who was carrying several stacks of papers.<p>

"Go ahead." Osmond said.

"Of course, headmaster." She said, nodded curtly and banished around the next corner.

Osmond approached him and he allowed Osmond to lead him through the mostly empty hallways, in silence except for the occasional greetings to a member of the staff or a student. They came to an unused classroom, and got inside. Osmond locked the door behind them, and turned to look at him with what most would call an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face, but not him.

"What it is, Colbert?"

"Headmaster... the thing about the letter, was it really necessary?" Colbert said. He still remember the initial panic at seeing them gone, and when they had found Guiche´s diary, neatly folded on his desk. The illogical young love and seer desperation in the last entries, ending in that he couldn´t wait anymore, that they had to go. He had be as soldier before, and, even if he had the occasional nightmare, such times seemed so far away to him that something like this made him uncomfortable."This would damage the reputation of the Gramonts, and the Underwood´s."

"Colbert, be serious. Guiche is a know womanizer, and such things would have be speculated, anyway. Is not something that would permanently damage their families. Besides, what should I have done? I had no other choice. Simply letting the students know that they had disappeared would most certainly cause a panic. Now, at least they can file the whole thing away as an unusual happening at nothing more."

"Is... Is that all?"

"Oh." Osmonds smile widened. "You are so sharp, Jean. Like always. No, is not all. Maybe I am just getting old and paranoid, but... but I think this is something more."

"Something...? Wait, you don´t mean...?"

"Yes, that they were kidnapped for real, and the diary was just a forgery. Or, maybe, even... even killed."

Colbert froze. He didn´t want to hear it, but his words made sense. Far too much sense. He licked his lips.

"Surely... Surely they wouldn´t do something like that?" Colbert muttered. It sound false even to his ears. Some people didn´t think in terms of benefit or not, but in terms of pleasure. Some were simply too far gone. Osmond sighed.

"Jean..."

"I know; I know. I just... I just wish I didn´t. Did somebody react to it suspiciously?"

"No, unfortunately. I want to think than that's good news, that it means that there is nothing to worry about. That there is no killer among us. But maybe I am getting far too old, Jean. Maybe."

Colbert laughed, bitterly.

"Yeah, me too." He said, and sighed. "So, when will you close the school?"

"I won´t close it, Jean. No matter what I suspect, the letter seemed real enougth. We can´t close this school just because two students in love run away together."

"But Osmond, even if there is little chance that they were killed..."

"Fine. I be straight with you: when I said that we can´t close it, I mean it." Osmond told him, and he gripped his staff tighter. This... this was too much. "Think about it. That´s basically announcing that we think Guiche and Katie were killed. The writing matches, his motives are believable and that Kaite let herself be dragged into Guiche´s running away plan out of love is far for implausible. They will already drag our name down enough because we let them get away, but something like that will destroy our reputation."

"To hell with the reputation! These are students life´s we are talking about!"

"I know. I not saying we will not do anything. In fact, I want you to watch that clown closely."

"Uh?" Colbert said, befuddled. "Miss Valliere´s familiar? Why? You think..."

"Yes, I think so. This clown gets summoned, and in the same night two students disappear. Is suspicious."

He looked down. It made sense, in a way, but he didn´t want it to be true. Miss Valliere was belittled by her classmates and her own family; she already had enough suffering. Her familiar turning up to be a killer may break her. But... he was here because he wanted to redeem himself from so eagerly burning down D´Anglanterre, so is first priority were the students, no matter if he had grow more fond of her that of the other students.

"Understood, Headmaster."

"Jean..." Osmond muttered, then cut himself off. Colbert walked out of the room, and slammed the door shut behind him.

* * *

><p>Everything was in order, so easily, like it should be. It realized with annoyance that some part of It hadn´t expect that. The Turtle had died, choked on a galaxy or two, yet those children that now were adults had crossed It and destroyed Its physical form. Two of them were dead, they had lost the mystical quality of seven and the power of their imaginations, yet they had done it. But now, everything was back in Its proper place. This was no Derry, not that place It had molded into Its own image, but it was enough. Enough. The Headmaster had be malleable. The secrets of his past had provided It the trigger to change him. He had sent for when he was younger on a journey, and even thought he had amassed what he called treasuries, even thought he had reached Square level and was respect all over the world, he had not achieved what he sought. So it had be easy to convince him to not close the school, that there was no serious danger, no as long as everybody watched the students closely, and that he could find glory when he cached that depraved kidnapper and brought back the two students safely. Or just by bringing a murder to justice.<p>

It had even planted in his mind suspicious towards It. That had be nothing but a whim, for It was sure that he would reach that conclusion in time and that wouldn´t change anything, but It had done it all the same. Because It enjoyed driving those helpless toys down a path of Its chossing, seeing them thinking themselves prepared for It and then the despair as they were killed, crushed under Its grip. It was just utterly delicious.

But It had his purpose, once again, and It was going to do it. It had not opened the circle like it was proper, but that would wait. There was one more target, in this academy. That girl who cried out for the boy that had died in the deathligths just yesterday, whose greatest fear was being pushed away. That girl would make excellent food, and send Its plans into motion.

It turned his gaze away from the little girl who called herself Its master, and regarded the blonde girl with hunger from the deathligths which were Its eyes. She soon would die, she would swim in Its eye, Its mind, in the deathligths.

_Soon_.


	3. Veneer Of Vanity

**III. Veneer Of Vanity**

"What..." Guiche muttered, blushing. Montmorency pulled his head down, pressed herself tightly against him and kissed him right in the lips. Guiche stiffened, but soon put his arms around her, and returned the kiss. She was not very experienced, but she tried to make it for it with fervor. She pushed him down on the grass and straddled him, hips brushing against his lower region, without breaking the kiss. When she parted, he was flushed, hair a mess, looking up at her like he was seeing her for the first time.

"Cat got your tongue?" Montmorency said, and licked her lips. Some part of her had be clamoring for this, even if she knew that such eagerness was not exactly proper and now that it was happening, now that they were going to be together for real, she just couldn´t stop.

"Mon-mon..." Ah, how she liked that. For anyone else, that name would have embarrassed her, but on his lips it sounded perfect. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, dear." She said, and kissed him again, sliding her tongue into his mouth. His hands went down from her waist, and cupped her butt. Montmorrency moaned, and pressed herself harder against him. She broke off the kiss briefly, to breath, and saw it. His eyes were round, open wide and they were bleeding. Montmorrency stared in horror and opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a strangled gasp.

"Whats wrong, Mon-mon?" He said, and one hand went up her back, making her tremble, and came to rest on her neck. "Whats wrong?"

His eyes continued bleeding, and they were glazed over like everything worked fine, all right, but there was no longer anything inside. She watched, frozen, as the skin of one of his hands started to rot, showing the meat and bone beneath it, only vaguely aware he had lifted his other hand. He dough both of his hands into her neck, and pressed. She gasped, and tried to pry off his hands, but they didn´t even move. She started feeling dizzy, like the world was floating away from her and, looking down at Guiche, she wished it did. His face was rotten like a corpse, and there were deep , bleeding gashes on his cheeks, that showed a glimmer of white which would only be his bones.

Staring into that _death_ face, Montmorrency at last found her voice. She screamed.

* * *

><p>Montmorrency opened her eyes, and looked at the ceiling, shrouded in darkness, of her own room. She was sweating so much her nightclothes were stuck to her body, and had become see through. She sat up on the bed, a hand on her chest and listened to the wild beating of her own heart. Breathe in, breathe out. It was a dream, just a dream. Everything was fine. It was stupid to let herself be scared by something like that, in the first place. Guiche was already gone, and he couldn´t no longer hurt her. But... but, that was what hurt her the most. That he was gone, and he was never coming back, even if the Headmaster dragged him back to the academy. His heart already belonged to that girl, Katie, despite of her love for him, despite everything she had done to him.<p>

It was vexing; all of it. She was not some weak little girl that needed a man by her side to be happy, yet no more that a day had passed since the Headmaster´s announcement and here she was, having nightmares that send her heart racing. She had be humiliated in front of the entire school because of that _bastard_, and now she couldn´t even have her pride. Montmorency grabbed the pillow, and threw it against the wall in front of her. It hit it with a dull thud, and fell to the floor.

"Fuck you, Guiche." She muttered, hoarsely. "I hope you die."

She was not going to be restrained by this. Guiche was a thing how the past, and she just had to dealt with it. Sure, her classmates will sneer at her, and insult her behind her back, but it would not go further than that and, besides, it surely was not going to last long. The Zero still attended the academy, and sometime else would happen that would catch their attention. Nightmares would easily be taken care of with dreamless sleep potions. This was nothing, just an annoying little bump in the road. She would face the world, head held height, as a proud Montmorency without Guiche by her side.

Montmorency got out of bed, undressed and changed into her school uniform. While she tied the cloak, she looked at herself at the mirror. Petite, and her breasts had not grown, but she had a nice complexion, if bit marred by the freckles, long legs and a tight butt. Anybody would be happy to be her boyfriend; she didn´t have to be ashamed of anything. She got out the room, locked the door and headed towards class.

While she walked through the hallways, some of them stopped, stared, whispered far to audibly to be a mistake about how easily she had be played, and how Guiche had preferred the company how a girl with such a plain family history rather that her. Is what always happens to cold wet fishes like her, they said. She clenched her fist, and carried on, like she hadn´t heard anything. Class was a relief. She had no interest in the majority of the class-and why would see, if she would only use water. But, at least, her classmates remained silent, like the nobles they were supposed to be, and she hadn´t to heard nothing about it. And when they did speak out, it was to mock the Zero for another one of her failures, so even that was a relief.

She signed, and looked down on her notes of this Water Magic lesson. On her notebook, words were being scrawled on the page, red as blood. She drew back, and held back a scream. It would disappear, or she soon would wake up foe real. This... but it didn't disappear, and it was not a dream.

_IF YOU SO WANT TO SEE YOUR DEAR GUICHE, THEN JUST KILL YOURSELF._

_BOTH HIM AND HIS LITTEL FRIEND ARE ALREADY DEAD._

Suddenly, the plume snapped in half under her straining fingers. The broken pieces fell to the ground, and rolled down the wooden stairs. The words on the page faded away, like they had never be there. Surely, they had never be there. Mister Anderson expression changed slightly, and he looked at her.

"Miss Montmorency, is something wrong?" He said, and, at his words, she would almost feel the glazes of the entire class shifting to her. She fidgeted for a moment, then forced herself to stop. Calm. She had to be calm.

"No, nothing is wrong, professor Anderson. I just that I... uh... I broke my plume." She said, blushing lightly and heard a snicker, not loud enough to draw the teachers attention. Montmorrency clenched her fits, but didn´t make another move. If she did, her reputation would receive another crack and it was already enough. More that enough.

"I see. If you need it, I can let you one."

"Is fine, professor, I have another one." Montmorency said, fumbled with her bag and took off one of her spare plumes. The professor´s gaze lingered on her for a moment, then looked away and continued the lesson like it had never be interrupted. She looked down, focusing only on her notebook which had no signs of the words that had be written there only moments ago, and kept on writing notes. Class passed down with the only sound being the professor´s words, and when the bell ringed, ending the last class of the day, she tugged the book into her bag and almost eagerly went away. She would go back to normal, all would go back to normal, but first, she had something to do.

This is just had to stop.

* * *

><p>Montmorency drew back, and whipped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. There it was. It had taken her the better part of the day, and the copious quantity of homework hadn´t helped either, but it was done. A dreamless sleep potion. She knew such potions were regulated by the infirmary staff, but she didn´t even care. She grabbed the bottle, sat down on the bed, took off the cap, and drank some of it, perhaps more that necessary. It burned when going down her throat, but it didn´t taste that bad, at all. She laid down, covered herself and tried to sleep. She turned of the bed for a while, then opened her eyes. She felt uncomfortable, and her skin kind of itched. Nothing that made sleeping easy.<p>

Then, she heard it. The tiles creaked twice, almost in unison. Something had felt, she thought. A book or something. But if it was that, she would have heard a crash, not that barely audible creak, and two things falling on the ground nearly in unison was too much of a coincidence. Besides, she had her books nearly ordered. If one book toppled over, most of them would go down with it. So, it was... again, the tiles creaked twice. Steps. It had too be steps. She sat up, and clapped her hands twice, intending to reach for her wand and stop whatever joker had...

Guiche.

It was Guiche wavering towards her, Guiche, dressed in a white blouse splattered with blood. His pants had deep, bleeding gashes. His face was pale, and even thought he still walked his eyes were glazed over, like in that dream. He stared at her, right in the eyes.

"It killed me!" Guiche voice rose, wavering. "I wanted love, I looked everywhere for it but you pushed me away, pushed me away so this is your fault, all your fault!"

Montmorency scrambled back, until her back hit the wall. There was a click in her throat. Her wand. She had to get her wand. Her hand fumbled across the nightstand, grasped it and pointed it at him. Her arms trembled. Guiche continued advancing, like he hadn´t see the wand. Or he didn´t care.

"Please!" Montmorency screamed. She would almost fell her mind tearing off its hinges. "Get away for me, I didn't do anything!"

"Its all right, dear.." Guiche, that thing that was now Guiche, croaked. He extended his arms towards her. "Everything is all right. You deserve to die for doing this to me, but I forgive you. Let us talk about love, together. Lets do it, right now."

Something clicked inside her mind, then. She forced her arms to stop trembling, and muttered an incantation. A gush of water shoot out the tip, and hit Guiche right in the chest, driving a hole through it. Guiche stumbled back, but he didn´t not fell. He kept walking, like that hole wasn´t there.

"That´s bad." That thing drawled out, and she saw that his teeth were fangs. "That´s very bad of you, but don´t worry, I will forgive you anyway."

Maybe... maybe she should just stop. Laid down her wand, and let him kill her. In a moment, she would felt his nails digging into her throat, and a little after that her heart would finally stop. She didn´t know it if was just or anything like that, but at least this darkness would fade. She would fly, freely. Perhaps even finding her atonement, because no matter if this was real or not, his words held truth. She had pushed him away, and now he was gone. So...

No.

_No._

She jumped out of the bed, holding onto her wand tightly and backed away for whatever creature it was. Help would come, soon. They had made enough noise and nobody had show up yet, but it was better to not think about that. Help would come because help had to come, and than was that. It all couldn´t end like this. Montmorency send another gush of water against that creature, and one of his arms flew right off. It flew, and hit the ground with a sickening, squeaking noise. Like it was not even flesh, and maybe that was true.

"Oh, oh, you dirty girl, come back here. " He said, his jaws opening and closing as if preparing to take a bite out of her. Her back hit something. The window, it was the window. Calm, calm. She wouldn´t dealt with this, but if she managed to reach a teacher, any teacher, then everything would be all right...

He was right in front of her, right in front of her, oh god-

A crash. The wind, she would felt the wind now, tugging at her clothes and...

* * *

><p>It looked down, and saw that her neck snapped when she hit the ground. The child didn´t felt a thing. Ah, that´s too bad. It would have liked to taste it, her terror when she slowly chocked on her own blood, feeling how she died, praying for their Founder to save her or perhaps for boy It had cast into the deathligths which were Its eyes. That crushing sense of despair she would get she realized help wouldn´t come, it was never going to come and that she was going to die, would be utterly delicious. So, that was a real shame. It wouldn´t have feed for her immediately, of course-she served a purpose greater than that-but It would felt the sole idea reinvigorating It. They just tasted so much better when they were afraid!<p>

Her corpse would remain there, for now, until that glory-hungry fool would discover her, and shut down the school. After that, It would be easily enough to grab her for the morgue or anywhere, and feed. But no soon; no, no so soon. There were more important things than that. Like that stupid little girl who called herself Its master. Together, they would go back to the Valliere state. She would be so_ trilled _to see her family again, and It too.

It too wanted to see them.


	4. The Circle Opens

**IV. The Circle Opens**

At first, Patrick had thought he had be dreaming, for only in your dreams you would heard the voices of the dead. But he was wide awake, and he would felt the cold wind sending temblors through his whole body. He fidgeted, trying to work up the knots. Being a guard in Count Mott´s mansion was not the most comfortable of jobs, but the pay was nice. More that it would be expected, really, since nothing of real importance had happened in all his five years of service. But, really, such a silly thing, to image their voices now when it had be so long since he had even thought about them...

"Hey, Patrick." Vincent said. He, who was more that a decade dead. And his voice seemed to come for in front of him. "Hey. Being dead is not so bad, once you get used to it. And if I ever had something since that day, is time. Twelve years, Patrick. Twelve years."

Patrick tensed, and squinted, looking through the darkness of the forest, almost expecting to see him, dragging his rotten corpse towards him, before he caught himself. Dead is dead, and that was that. Even little kids knew that much. He was more that a little tired, his misplaced sense of guilt didn´t help matters in anyway, but he was not hearing Vincent´s voice. Hell, he didn´t even really remember his voice.

"Its all coming back, big brother." Patrick froze. It was Natasha´s voice. She hadn´t even lived for ten years. "Everything comes back, floating. How, of it all floats! Like the ballots I never got to see. But they were beautiful, right, big brother? I sure they were."

Patrick raised his head towards the darkness of the night sky, sweat running down his face like tears. This was nothing but a particularly vivid hallucination, is guilt talking, because while Vincent may have spoken like that, Natasha didn´t really call him big brother. Patrick, yes, and sometimes even Pat, but never big brother. His brain had found a new way to torment him, like he didn´t know enough, and nothing more. Nothi...

He jerked, startled. It took him a moment to realize that Richard was just beside him, instead of the other side, and that he had slapped him in the back of the head.

"What are you spacing around for?" Richard said. "If any of the mage guards saw you, you would get a good whipping."

"They are too busy eating, sleeping and staring at the maid´s chests to notice lowly persons such as us." Patrick replied. "Besides, is not like I am stupid enough to sleep during the day, so don´t be so dramatic. And warn me next time, asshole. That hurt."

"Well, you did deserve it." Richard said, and laughed. Then, he got back to his post. Patrick straightened out, a smile on his face and fixed his gaze in front of him. Things went on. Then, he saw it. Briefly, for the corner of his eye, so briefly he thought that it was a trick of the light until he turned.

Natasha and Vincent were both standing there, hand in hand, looking solid. Natasha´s slender throat was slashed, dry blood coating it and her little airy sundress. She was smiling, but rigidly, like it was somehow fixed on her face. Half of Vincent´s face was missing, and his brains hanged out between the air and bits of blood and meat like a grotesque flag. A raw line ran down his neck.

"We didn´t die." They said, in unison. "We were killed. Killed, because of self interest."

"Want to heard it, big brother?" Nathasa said.

Patrick opened his mouth, perchance to scream, but he closed it instantly. No. No. This was just...

"It was him. Mott." Vincent said. "His lapdogs, anyway. I think of telling my family, because I didn´t want them to worry, and I never got the chance, either. I sneaked out of my work to talk with Mott about the raising taxes. I told him that I knew it was not out of necessity, the royal palace hadn´t given the order and it was all just to fill out his pockets even more. His lapdogs grabbed me, put me in the forest and beat me so hard my skull cracked open."

Patrick froze. He didn´t want to believe any of what was happening, but those words sounded good. Vincent had always be like that, hard working and righteous and that he had sneaked off of his responsibilities without good reason only to be attacked and killed by a wild animal had never convinced him. So, maybe it was true. Maybe they were spirits, looking for vengeance througth him.

"Yes, big brother." Natasha said. "That´s exactly what we are looking for. Now, do you want to heard my history? It won´t take long, big brother."

Patrick opened his mouth again, slowly, feeling almost like he was drifting away, and whispered:

"Tell me."

"I was playing with Audra. I got carried away, like always and I had to run to not be late for my birthday party, because I am a good girl and only bad girls do thinks like that. Is irresponsible. But on my way home, I heard shouting coming for an alleyway. I didn´t understand half of it, but I knew people shouldn´t fight like that, so I went there. I knew you would forgive me for being late, if I told you why, so I didn´t think twice about it. I heard a squashing noise, turned the corner and saw a

blood drenched man, shirt torn open, with a hole on his chest, and two armored men standing over him. They saw me as I stood, frozen in fear, looking at the corpse, and knocked me out. And I never waked up again, big brother. Until now."

Patrick clenched his spear so hard his knuckles turned white. Her sister had be murdered just because she had stumbled into the wrong things, just because she was-had be-far too kind. Mott. Everything was Mott´s fault. And he had be living for so long in his service, depending on his money. He felt so sick he could have puked his guts out.

"I kill him." He thought is words could sound hollow, but they didn´t.

"Uh, what did you say?" Richard asked.

"No, nothing. Just thinking about... things." Things like the look of Mott´s face has he approached, his arrogance crumbling away into terror. Hold him down, heard him beg and cut off his throat just to watch the blood flow down. Things like that. He turned around, grasped the knock on the door and opened it. Patrick looked back. Richard was just beside him, but he didn´t warm him not to do that or reacted in anyway. It was odd, but the ghosts of his friend and his sister appearing in front of him was even odder, so it didn´t really matter. He entered the mansion, spear held high and advanced towards Mott´s quarters. There were several lights on, and the guards for the second floor should have seen him, but they didn´t comment on it. No matter. He just carried on. He reached his quarters and opened the door, while the two soldiers stationed in front of it just kept looking emptily at the horizon. Patrick turned on the lights. He saw Mott stirring beneath the covers, and an another shape next to him. A maid, clearly naked. He would see the tips of her breasts. She tried to cover herself, badly. Mott sat up, and looked at him. No matter.

"What are you doing here?" He sneered. "You better hope you have a good enough excuse, or I have you hanged. Didn´t you heard m...?"

Patrick raised the spear, and hit him right in the neck, driving his body against the wall. His throat had a ragged line running through it, and he would see the meat and bone behind it. Mott gasped, and spat out blood. The maid screamed, and backed away until she fell off the bed.

"Guards! Guards!" He would clearly heard her screaming for help, but he saw for the corner of his eye that they didn´t even twitch. A sensation of dislocation assaulted him, making him fell sick. Was this real? I am real? No matter, no matter. He twisted the spear, and took off Mott´s head for his shoulders. Blood spurted. The head when flying, hit the ground and rolled to the corner, spreading even more blood. The maid was crawling away, almost spilling because of the blood. Her breasts swung back and forth. He reached for her hair, grasped it and pulled her back. She screamed, again and grabbed his hands, trying to break free. "N-no, n-no, please."

_What are you doing? Mott is dead, this is enough. _He thought, and yes, it was enough. But... he had to show the world that he was real. He had to show the world that little Natasha, with her innocent little smile and her airy sundress, was real and that Vincent was sometimes over eager but had the common interest in mind and he didn´t deserve what happened to him, none of them deserved what happened. And if this was what it took, then fine. Patrick tossed the maid against the ground, lifted his spear and decapitated her cleanly. She didn´t have the time to scream again. He lifted the spear, tick with blood, and got out of the room. The guards still didn´t react. He stabbed the one in the left in the heart, and yet the other one didn´t react. He gave him time, put himself right in front of him and looked at him at the eyes and raised the spear slowly, but his spear dug deep into his body without resistance, and when he pulled it away the corpse fell against the ground lifelessly.

All right.

Fucking all right.

The world didn´t know they were there, that they were real, but he show them. He show all of them.

* * *

><p>"Last night, Montmorency Margarita la Fére de Montmorency was killed." Osmond said, in a calm and reasonable tone of voice. It almost made her miss the real meaning of the words. Another one? Another one who hadn´t be protected, despite of everything? Louise didn´t like Montmorency, and had liked Guiche even less, but still... all of this made her fell sick. Some of the students stood up for their seats and erupted in an uproar of panicked yells, demanding explanations, a culprit and lots other things that were simply inaudible. "Silence."<p>

And, incredible, it only took that word to shut all of them up, sit back down and listen, like proper nobles.

"Uh." Osmond mumbled, and coughed. "Now, as I was saying. Somebody entered in her dormitory, and pushed her out of the window. Her neck cracked instantly when she hit the ground, so at least she didn´t suffer. We have leads we are still pursuing, but staying it school will be dangerous, so today, the Tristanian Academy Of Magic will be closing for an indefinite amount of time. We have already send messages to your family's to come and pick you up, so you can concentrate in preparing your bangs. Also, even thougth they are going to take a while, there won´t be classes today. Now, you can go back to your breakfast."

Louise picked up the knife, and half-heartily dug into her plate. Montmorency was not only death, but killed. And not even two days after what happened to Guiche and Katie. Even an idiot would see that the two happenings were not unconnected. So... so the other two were already dead, and rotting. Which made her wonder why Montmorency corpse had be discovered, when there was still no trance of the other two. Maybe the murdered had be about to be discovered, and... wait, no. She had provably be discovered this morning, so the culprit would have had all the time to dispose off her corpse using whatever method he had with the other two, which means he wanted her to be discovered. It sounded like the ramblings of a paranoid mad man, even in her head, and yet it made sense. It made far too much sense. When breakfast finished, she went up to her room, followed by Pennywise and started preparing for the ride. She put out various changes of clothes, a few novels, some of the class books and nothing else. It took her less that a quarter of an hour. She made Pennywise carry them, and together they went to the courtyard and sat down in one of the free seats. She took off one of the unfinished novels, and read, waiting for her carriage. She saw a few of the students enter the carriage of their families, and go away.

"What are you reading?" Pennywise said, breaking her train of thought. That novel was not the best she had read, but it was fairly entertaining.

"_No Mans Land_. Is about..." She started off strong, and felt silent, trying to work up how to best explain the book to him, who was for such a far off land that they didn´t even knew about it. "About a group of mages, in a mission to retake the Holy Land, trying to survive in the desert of Rub Al Kali."

"I see." Pennywise said, and brief glance at the book. "Want me to tell you a story?"

Louise doubted. Paul was in a pitch again, and, while she doubted the author would kill him off, she at least wanted to read how he got out of the mess. But, on the other hand, Pennywise never really talked with her. To her, yes, but not with her. And taking care of him properly was her responsibility, as a noble. So she nodded.

"Once upon a time, there was this small city called Derry. It was built in a quite inconvenient place, and it rained a lot, so people built dams and stuff so they didn´t get flooded over. One day, a boy gout of his house at night, wearing a yellow rain-slicker and clutching a boat made out of newspaper in one hand. The boy´s name was George Denbrough. His big brother, Bill, had made the boat for him. He had a stuttering problem, but George loved him deeply and respected him. Wanted to be like him. There had be a small flood recently, so George put the boat in the water and ran beside it, excited. The boat bobbed a lot, but it always righted itself. It floated to a gutter swallowed with rain, and that was when young George meet him." Louise swallowed, despite herself. She had read enough stories to know this was not going to end well. "Only he was not a man, but a magical creature. A shape-sifter. But how could poor magic less George Denbrough know that? He only knew that he had caught his boat, and that he seemed friendly. And when the kid reached for his boat made out of paper, the thing grabbed his arm and tore it off for his socket. He died instantly."

"That´s..." Louise mumbled, not really knowing what to say. It was a little bit silly, but she hadn´t really expected Pennywise would even know a story like this. "What happened next?"

"Well, I was going to continue until you interrupted me." Pennywise said, and Louise blushed. He was just a commoner but, still, it was not proper to do that.

"Sorry."

"Doesn´t matter. Anyway. Dave Gardener was the one that discovered his corpse. He saw his yellow rain-slicker, now red for the blood flowing for the tattered hole where his left arm had been, and the far too bright bone that showed through the tattered piece of cloth. And he screamed." Pennywise said, calmly, still maintaining his smile and looked oddly at her. Did it show on her face how sick she was getting? Must be that. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Just a little... Please, continue."

"After that, Bill Denbrough had it bad. He made the boat for him, waxed it and everything, so he felt guilty about that. Still does, I am sure. Like he tore off that arm himself. His parents response didn´t help, at all. They didn´t beat him or anything like that. Didn´t blame him, either. But they may as well have. You see, it was like the moment George died, all three went down with him. His parents became stilted, each to his own thing and never talked between each other. Just simply being in the house felt like a prison to Bill. He tried to lighten the mood, tell them about school or tell some jokes or anything like, but his stuttering problem only got even worse after George´s brutal murder... and because he looked into his parents empty eyes, and saw only the same thing that ringing in his head, over and over again: George had be killed by someone else, but fact was that he had only be outside because he made the boat for him. That it was all his fault. The boy grew up, became a writer and wrote books that got him much money and fame. More that a few of them were adapted into plays. But, in truth, Bill Denbrough only wrote about one thing-the death of George, and the effects. Over and over again. He didn´t even realize, not until much later, but that was what it was." Pennywise said, and even thought his tone was dispassionate, Louise found herself enthralled. He was just like him, blamed for something he had not power over. She waited for him to continue. He didn´t.

"That´s it?" She blurted out.

"Uh?" Pennywise said, and tilted his head.

"I-I mean... what about his parents? Didn´t he..."

"Oh, he found happiness, all right. A group of good friends and a nice, pretty wife. But his parents never really loved him again."

"Oh." Louise deflated. It may have be nothing but a story, but he was so much like her that she had hoped he managed to win back the love of his parents. That would have gave her strength to carry on until she had her breakthrough. But now, the story seemed foreboding. Like she would live happily, even have great success, but she couldn´t never be a mage.

"I find myself thinking of that boy, a lot." Pennywise said, strangely serious. "I find myself thinking of all of them."

"Them?"

"Oh, that´s a story for another time." He said, his big smile almost wistful. Louise opened his mouth again, close it and bit her lip. She could press him, and he would cave in, eventually, but she didn´t want to break the trust between them. Perhaps it was nothing but obligation to him, but... maybe... maybe it could become friendship. Founder knows she needed something like that. So, she kept her mouth shut. Not much later, she recognized one of the carriages, got up and went towards it, Pennywise following her. She exchanged greetings with the driver, opened the door, sat down and waited until her familiar got inside to close it. When she turned around, she saw only the drivers head, behind a pane of glass, and breathed a sign of relief. Louise opened _No Man´s Land_ again, and allowed herself to relax.

Hours later, she had to force herself to kept reading. It was still interesting, but she was dozing off far too much to concentrate properly, which was a problem as of itself, but the worst of it was that it made her mind turn to the meeting with her family. What would happen, what would they say about everything. It made her want to sleep just to forget the incoming wreck, even for a little while. Eventually, she gave up, set the book aside, leaned back on the seat and closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>Louise stirred awake, and sleepily clapped her hands, to light the lamp on the nightstand. Only after that did she realize that she was not in her room, but in her family´s carriage and towards their home. She rubbed her eyes, and looked up. Her head was on her familiar´s shoulder, while he kept looking forward, seemingly without noticing it. She immediately drew back, blushing. Pennywise hummed, and turned towards her.<p>

"This never happened, okay?"

"What never happened?" Pennywise said.

"T..." Louise mumbled, eyes narrowed at him. Then, she realized where he was going with that, and that it definitively was not to mock her. "Good familiar."

She crossed her arms under her chest, and looked straight ahead, trying to forget about it. She had sleep on her familiar´s shoulder, without a care. That was definitively embarrassing enough, but the worst of it that it could easily be taken the wrong way. At least, Leonor had not be there to see it. She couldn´t never heard the end of it, then. Thank the founder for small mercies.

"So, how is your family, Louise?" Pennywise said. It came out of nowhere, but still, Louise seriously considered how to answer the questions. They were not bad, just... just they kind of made her fell bad, more often that not. But she couldn´t blame then, no really. She was just Louise the Zero, while her mother was the Heavy Wind, feared and respected through all of Halkagenia, her father was no slouch either, Eléonore had prestige has a researcher and, even if Cattleya was always kind to her, in didn´t change that even her was more adept at magic that her, even though she was sick. Really, it was only natural. And there had be some harsh comments in the past, but... "Louise?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. My family..." Louise mumbled. "Well, I have two older sisters, Eleanor and Cattleya. Eléonore is a researcher, and Cattleya has no job because she has be sick since she was born. My mothers name is Karin. She is a square class wind mage. They call her the Heavy Wind, because of her favorite spell. My father´s name is Erwin, and he is a skilled mage, though not as powerful as my mother..."

"Louise, I asked how they are to you, not to the world." Pennywise said, gently.

"I..." She mumbled. "You see, all I can do are explosions, since an early age. My parents wanted to marry me off to Wardes and get rid of such an embarrassment, but Cattleya convinced them to allow me to go to the Academy, despite that. She is very kind to me. She never scolds me, even when I may deserve it. As for everybody else, well... I-I don´t really want to talk about them."

"Do they hit you?"

"What? No! Well, I spared with mother a few times, but this at that are different. They wouldn´t never do something like that. Is just... they all look down on me. Eleanor, mother and even father, no matter how much they love me, think of my magic as nothing but a lost cause. Didn´t really expect that me going to the academy would change anything. And, as you know, they were right. Nothing has changed. I am still nothing but a zero."

"Well, you summoned me. That may not be a great achievement, but is something."

"Yeah, n-now that I think about it... but..."

"You wanted to be something more. I get it. Everybody wants that, at least once in their lives."

"And you?"

"Me?" Pennywise said, smile widening. "No. Not yet, at least. I always wanted to be like this. But I am not exactly common, you know?"

"Yeah." She allowed herself to laugh. "I know."

Then, there was silence, but it was not uncomfortable. No, not all. She felt like when she was with Cattleya, secure in the knowledge that she would just be herself. Soon after, she felt the carriage come to a stop. She opened the door and got up. Pennywise followed her. While the driver when to put the carriage back in its proper place, they approached the mansion. It was spacious, and really beautiful, but it had always made her fell removed for the world. As she should be, because she was not only a noble but a _Valliere_, but, still, it didn´t change what she felt. When they reached the mansion, the door opened and Cattleya stepped through, looking radiant in an elegant dress and wide rimmed hat with a feather on the top. She smiled at seeing her.

"Big sister!" Louise screamed.

"Oh, Louise, no way! You are not my little Louise anymore!" She said, giggled and then they hugged tightly. She felt a bit of embarrassment on acting like this when her familiar was watching, but quickly squashed that feeling down. It was her big sister, again, and that was what mattered. Breaking out the hug was a real effort. She noticed that Cattleya was staring over her shoulder, at her familiar and saw her stepping forward towards him.

"Ah, ah." Cattleya said, and softly stroked her familiar´s cheek. Even Pennywise looked nonplussed at the suddenness of such a thing, but he didn´t say anything. "You are Louise familiar, are you not?"

"Yes. Let me present myself. I am Bob Grayson, better know as Pennywise, the Dancing Clown. Is a pleasure to meet you. You must be Cattleya, right?"

"Did Louise tell you about me? She didn´t say anything bad, I hope."

"Nothing but praise. To everyone else, though..."

"Familiar!" Louise screamed. "Don´t."

"Oh... well, I suspected as much." Cattleya continued, like she didn´t heard her. "What did she say, Penny-oh, should I call you Bob?"

"Pennywise suits me better. Anyway, I could tell you... but I wont. Louise told me in confidence, and I be a poor familiar and an even worse friend if I betrayed her trust so easily, even for her dearest big sister."

"But..."

"If you want to know it so badly, then ask her later, Miss. Is really no my place to tell."

"But..:" Cattleya mumbled, weakly, then sighed. "You are right, Pennywise. Sorry about that. Is just that... you know what I mean, right?"

"I do." Pennywise said. Left unsaid, though, was what Cattleya mean, exactly. That she loved her? Was that it? It had to be that.

_Get real. They are just saying that I am pitiable, _she though. Louise pushed aside that though easily, it was a though used to being pushed aside, but she didn´t forget. Not entirely. She doubted she ever would. But, at least for the moment, it was gone. Soon enough, the house servant´s came and took her bags right off of Pennywise´s hands, and the tree of them went to dinner, even thought she was not particularly hungry. Seeing her mother and her other sister again was nerve wrecking, but she manage to pretend it was not affecting her at all. Now that they were not in the academy, she wanted Pennywise to sit at the table with them, but she fully knew mother wouldn´t allow that, so she didn´t even try. The food was served, slowly and methodically, in silence.

"So..." Karin said, looking at Pennywise for the corner of her eyes. "This is your familiar?"

"Yes, mother." Louise said.

"Why he is still wearing that makeup? Is unbecoming."

"Ah." She muttered, fidgeting in her seat. "Familiar, go..."

"But I am clown, Louise and clowns need makeup." Pennywise said, without flinching, despite that mother was staring intently at him now. "Everybody knows that."

She grabbed his hand, and drew him towards her, so the other two couldn´t heard her. She didn´t want to just order him around, but, to them, that would just be something more to hold against her.

"Please, just go. Don´t make a scene. You can put it back on later." Louise said. After a moment of deliberation, Pennywise nodded.

"So, where is the bathroom?" He asked her.

"Uh." She mumbled, for a moment having to work hard to remember the layout of her own house. It had be so long, indeed. "Right after going out of the, in the hallway of the righ, there is one bathroom. The door to it is clearly marked."

"Okay." Pennywise simply said, and went away.

"He is a bit undisciplined, but at least he knows his proper place." Karin said. "Well done."

For a moment, she didn´t know what to say, or think. Mother had never once praised her, and, suddenly, she was doing it for something that should be the bare minimum. But well, don´t look a gift horse in the mouth, and all of that.

"Thank you, mother." Louise said, and soon after the last of the food was served. She decided to wait for Pennywise, though. She heard the door open, and turned as Pennywise walked into the room.. His face had not even a trance of makeup, so while his smile was as big as ever it looked kind of empty, and the gloves. It really was not such a big change, when she though about it, but still, he looked really different, barely recognizable. He stopped behind her seat, without a word. Louise gave him a plate and a fork, and dug into her own food. She heard a click on the table, and looked at Pennywise´s completely empty plate. "Do you want more?"

He nodded, so she gave him another one and continued with her food. This repeated itself two or three times more, before lunch finished. The servants went to pick up the plates and watch them. Louise stood up, and went away, Pennywise following her, intending to sleep a little bit in her room. She was tired.

"Wait!" Cattleya said. Louise stopped in her tracks, and turned towards her. When she reached, she had to catch her breath. Louise winced, and looked away. It made her feel at fault, somehow. Didn´t make sense, but it was what it was. "Louise, can I talk to your familiar?"

Louise lips curled into a thin line. She didn´t really what Cattleya asking him what she told him about her mother, and Eléonore, and how they made her fell, but the sole idea of denying her anything left a bad taste in her mouth. On the other hand, knowing what she said would hurt her more, so... Wait, no. She was over thinking this. Pennywise had not said anything comprising before, so now shouldn´t be any different. There was only one question left. She turned towards him.

"Pennywise?" She said, looking at his eyes.

"Fine by me." Pennywise said. That calmed her down. She could trust him; she knew she could. So, she walked away, without looking back even once.

* * *

><p>When Louise disappeared behind the next corner, and her footsteps faded for her hearing, she turned towards him and looked into his eyes.<p>

"Pennywise, can I ask you something?"

"Depends."

"Is not about before. I just want to ask about what happened at the Academy. That was so horrible... how did she dealt with it? Do you think she is okay? I didn´t notice anything strange, but..."

She was babbling, she know she was, but she just would stop herself. Louise had always be belittled by both mother and Eléonore, and even though she knew such treatment was unfair, she never had the courage to raise her voice against them. And now, she had to experience something like that, alone. It just felt like another failure on her part.

"She was shaken up by what happened, of course, in the sense that it would have also happened to her. But it was nothing too bad. She never cared for Montmorency and Guiche, and she didn´t even knew Katie. So, yes, she is going to be okay."

"Do you really think so? I mean, even so..." Cattleya mumbled, and bit her lip. She hadn´t see it, but hearing about it was enough to make her stomach churn.

"Yes, don´t worry about that. To be honest, you should worry precisely because it doesn´t affect her all that much."

"What do you...?" She said, and looked down. What happened to her, at home, and how it changed her. That was what Pennywise was saying. He, who had be with Louise just a few days, had made more effort to understand Louise that Eléonore or mother ever would. It almost made her want to laugh. "I get it. Say... tomorrow, will you come with me? I like animals, very, very much that I many in my room. I would like to show them to you."

"Sounds good." Pennywise said, and his smile grew even wider. She found herself thinking that it was kind of cute, and blushed lightly. This was her little sister´s familiar, for founder´s sake!

"Thank you." Cattleya said, and smiled back.


End file.
